Mail box support



March 20, 1956 A. LAURICH ET AL 2,738,941

MAIL BOX SUPPORT Filed Deo. 16, 1952 INVENTORS 4I/7 ibo/7g L czar/ Ch By Josep/7 Laar/ch United States Patent 2,738,941 MAILv Box SUPPORT Anthony Lani-ich and Joseph Laurich, Chisholm, Minn.

Application December 16, 1952, Serial No. 326,309 '1 claim. (ci. 24a- 145) This invention relates to an improved novel mail box support of the type which is yieldably swingable in opposite directions.

The desirability of a swingable mail box support of the type referred to generally above is well appreciated in rural areas, particularly those in which heavy snows ate not uncommon. In such areas, snow plows and other road equipment are widely used, and when, as is usual, such equipment operates beyond the shoulders of a road, mail boxes located along said shoulders are often damaged.- l l At the same time, the mail boxes must be positioned adjacent the road, so as to be accessible to the mail carrier.

in view of the above, the main object of the present inventionl is to provide a swingable mail box support that will be 'so designed as to normally dispose a mail box at allocation where it can be easily reached by the.

carrier through the window of his vehicle, without the necessity of his driving the vehicley otf the 'road' shoulder, the support being nevertheless designed to permit the mail box to be yieldably swung in either direction without damage thereto, by snow plows, sanding trucks, etc.

It is appreciated that swinging mail box supports are not broadly new, and we are aware of other devices previously conceived for the same general purpose. However, an important feature of the mail box support constituting the present invention resides in the particular means which we have devised for normally holding the mail box in a selected location, while at the same time permitting the mail box to be swingably moved in either direction without damage thereto. Said means, in our invention, is fully balanced so as to assure identical paths of movement of the mail box, when swung in opposite directions, said means being so designed as to cushion the mail box against undesirable shocks at the opposite extremes of its travel in either direction from its normal position.

Another object of importance is to provide a support of the type stated which will be particularly designed in a manner to facilitate adjustment of the mail box as to the height thereof from the ground surface, said adjustment being carried out without the necessity of.

detaching or changing the functional characteristics of the means used for controlling the swinging movement of rthe mail box.

Another object of importance is to provide a mail box support of the character stated which will be attractive, substantially trouble free in operation, and capable of manufacture at a relatively low cost, considering the benefits to be obtained from the use thereof.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claim appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view of a mail box support formed in accordance with the present invention,

' in Figures 2 and 3.

e ice said support being illustrated in operative association with a mail box; y

j Figure 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary View partly in elevation and partly in section taken from the lineZ-Z of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 3 3 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the illustrated mail box support comprises an elongated, tubular ground post 10 having a point 12 at its lower endand rigid, diametrically opposite vertical vanes 14 intermediate its ends. The construction illustrated permits the ground post to be driven into the ground G with substantial ease and facility, it being apparent that the ground post, when so driven, will be anchored against rotatable movement and will be firmly held in a stationary, vertical position.

The ground post 10 is formed open at itsy upper end, to receive the lower end of a rotatable standard 16, said standard being formed with a longitudinal series of openings 1S, for a purpose to be made presently apparent.

At its upper end, the standard 16 is integrally formed with an elongated, horizontally disposed arm 20, an ornamental brace rod 22 being employed to rigidity the arm 2li relative to the standard l16.

At its free end, the arm 20 has a rectangularkbase 24 secured thereto, by bolts 26, said base being adapted that extend into oppositey sidesl of the mail box base ,24.1

The means employed fornormally holding the mail box in a selected position, comprises a support plate 334,'` said plate being,approximatelyrectangular incongura- -tion and being. substantially elongated, as best shown 34 is welded orotherwise rigidly secured to the upper end portion of the. ground post 10, vthe support plate being wholly positioned in a horizontal .plane normal to the axis of rotation of the standard i6.

At its opposite ends, the support plate 34 has rigidly secured thereto upstanding anchor pins 36, said anchor pins receiving eyes 33 atiixed to the outer ends of elongated, cylindrical spring housings 40. The housings or cylinders 40 are thus pivotally connected at their outer ends to the respective anchor pins. At their inner ends, the cylinders are open, and are externally threaded and have caps 42 thereon.

Disposed within each cylinder 40 is an inner coil spring 44, said coil spring 44 extending from the cap 42 to the midlength location of its associated cylinder. ln each cylinder, there is also an outer coil spring 46, which extends from the outer end wall of the cylinder to the midlength location thereof, Interposed between the facing ends of the springs 44, 46 is a disc-like piston 43 ailixed to one end of a piston rod 50, that is slidable Y in and projects beyond the cap 42.

The inner projecting end of the piston rod 5@ associated with each cylinder 4t) has a clevis 52, the respective -clevises straddling opposite side edges of a flat ear 54.

60, said bolt being passed through a selected opening.l

18 of the rotatable standard 16. y

By reason of this arrangement, the standard 16 and? At its inidl'ength portion, the plate the sleeve 58 are rigidly joined to one another, and rotate together upon the ground post 10. The support plate 34, of course, remains stationary with the ground post, but the ear 54 swings about the axis of rotation of the standard and sleeve, by reason of its rigid connection to the sleeve.

It will be seen that this construction necessarily disposesthe rural mail box in `a predetermined normal position in which the extension 20 is extended perpendicularly to the longitudinal center lines of the cylinders 40, the cylinders 40 being coaxially alinged in this position of the parts. It is further to be noted that in this position of the parts, the several springs 44, 46 are not under compression, and the pistons 48 are disposed medially between opposite ends Vof their associated cylinders.

In this position of the mail box, it is conveniently disposed for a mail carrier, and can be located adjacent the road shoulder, so that the carrier need not drive his vehicle off the shoulder. At the same time, the ground post 10 is disposed well away from the shoulder, so as not to be struck by snow removal equipment, road trucks, etc.

Assuming that road equipment is being used, that is operating oi the shoulder, the striking of the mail box 28 by said equipment will not damage the same, since the mail box and the extension 20 will yield, and will swing out of the path of the vehicle engaging the same.

When the mail box is swung away from its normal position in this manner, one piston 43 will be shifted toward the outer end of its associated cylinder, while the other piston 48 will be drawn toward the inner end of its associated cylinder. `This will cause one spring 46 to be compressed, with the spring 44 of the other cylinder also being compressed. A balanced action is thus obtained, that cushions the movement of the mail box in either direction, said movement of the mail box in either direction being maintained under the desired, balanced control at all times, so as to place no: greater strain on the parts when the rnail box is swungV in one direction than would be imposed if it were swung in the other direction. At the same time, the cushioning means is adapted to return the mail box to its normal position, the return movement of the box again being controlled, so as to impart no shocks to the box at the extreme limits of its travel.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described above, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the'invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a mail box support, a vertical post having an upper end, said post being relatively stationary, a standard having a lower end 'engaged in said upper end of the post, a sleeve rotatably surrounding said standard and supportably engaged'with the upper end of the post, a lateral mail box carrying arm on said standard, a horizontal support plate fixed at a point intermediate its ends to said post at the upper end of the post, means fixing said sleeve and said standard together for rotation together in opposite directions relative to the post, said support plate having opposed end portions projecting beyond opposite sides of the post, an ear fixed to said sleeve and projecting laterally therefrom across said support plate, first double action spring means connected at one end to an end portion of the support plate and at its other end to said ear, and second double action spring means connected at one end to the other end of the support plate and at its other end to the ear, each of said spring means comprising a cylinder having a closed end and an open end, said cylinder being positioned in the plane of said ear and along said support plate, means pivotally securing the closed end of the cylinder te an end of the support plate, a rod pivoted at one end to an end of the ear and having another end entering the open end of thecylinder, a piston on said other end of the rod closure means closing the open end of the cylinder and traversed by said rod,ta first helical spring in the cylinder between its closed end and said piston, and a second helical spring in the cylinder between said closure means and the piston, said springs normally being in uncompressed condition,

RefcrcncesCited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 963,329 Shank July 5, 1910 1,440,043 Wright Dec. 26, 1922 1,645,768 Morten Oct. 18, 1927 2,348,101 Appel May 2, 1944 2,522,983 Bergstrom Sept. 19, 1950 2,550,338 Dunagan Apr. 24, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 355,823 Great Britain of 1941 

